Holiday Cheer
by Awsome Dude 94
Summary: Done in honor of Gamer of Action's fic 'The Specialist and the Thief'. Nathan Drake has overcome a great deal of challenges in his life, from fighting off psychos to solving ancient death puzzles to out running grimm. But to bring some Holiday Cheer to one Winter Schnee? Well this might very well be the biggest challenge he's faced yet.
1. The Plan To Save Holiday Cheer

**Feliz Navidad! How are you guys this fine holiday? This year I felt like doing something special for the holidays and decided to do a homage piece to my favorite fic on the site thus far. I'm of course talking to Gamer of Action44D's awesome fanfic 'The Specialist and the Thief', something about that fic really speak to me and it's inspired me to get back into writing. So with Gamer's permission in hand, I bring you this holiday themed homage to his work. This is framed up to be a Chibi-esque side story set further down the line where Winter and Nate are on friendlier terms. It's non-canon, obviously, but even so i hope you guys enjoy.**

 **P.S. be sure to tell me if I portrayed the characters well in your reviews ;)**

"I said it once and I'll say it again, you have _got_ to know other people to do this stuff."

Winter chose ignore the man next to her for the moment, in favor of checking the time on her scroll in order to make sure she had time to finish some work once she got home. The short silence was soon followed by a soft prodding in her arm, marking that the man next to her wasn't content with being out a long sigh, Winter turned to face her companion in the form of Nathan Drake, dressed to the nines- tuxedo and all. Self proclaimed treasure hunter, historian, and 'really,really, cool guy'. As well as only real choice she had whenever you she was required to bring a plus one to Atlas military formal gatherings, such as the one they were just leaving. Something the globe trotting troublemaker besides her seemed to fail at understanding.

"We've been over this before and I am loathe to repeat myself." came her simple reply, earning a shake of Nathan's head, "Beside I thought you were suppose to be the one to enjoy these types of things."

Nathan took a moment, undoing his rather tightly done bow tie before responding to her statement. "Don't get me wrong, I enjoy holiday parties as much as the next guy even if it's with a bunch of Atlas military stuck ups." he ignored the short glare from Winter as he finally got the tie off and stuffing it in his pocket, "But I _did_ just get back from a trip in Mistral that had no shortage of crappy hotels and one big bust of a deal.". Nate was pretty sure he hadn't even been off of Sully's plane before Winter somehow found him and dragged him off to go to an Atlas Winter ball. Supposedly the reason was she once again was required a plus one and he was the closest thing to a friend she had, which was both pretty endearing and very much worrying at the same time.

"Well forgive me if have trouble sympathizing with the lack of details given about this 'bad trip'."

"Yeah well last time i checked I'm allowed to have personal life beyond being the chihuahua in your purse at gatherings." and if Nate was being honest, he'd rather not tell any sort authority figure about what he and Sully did in Southern Mistral the previous week. Especially not Specialist Winter Schnee, and _especially_ not when they dealing with a rather unsavory group of vagabonds and an a few very old and very expensive Minstral Wood prints they had…'procured'. Of course Nate wasn't usually for dealing with such types for a myriad of different reasons but Sully assured him this would a nice round of quick cash and it was...until the thugs decided they'd rather pay the two treasure hunters in lead rather than silver. Long story short the two left with a lot less dust rounds, a lot _more_ bruises, and yet another name on the ever growing list of cities they could never go back to. Something tells him that friend or not Winter wouldn't take kindly to that information, let alone the knowledge of the wood prints he and Sully got stuck with as a result of the botched transaction.

Winter rolled her eyes at the complaining treasure hunter as they passed by some of her subordinates and superiors also on their way out. A few stared at the odd pair of specialist and thief, one a strict by-the-book woman and the other a rogue who plays it by ear. She ignored the stares, having grown used to them during the Halloween Ball, and instead opted to respond to Nate as they closed in on the doors leading outside the building house this year's soiree, "You could've simply refused if you were _so_ tired. Honestly I'd rather come alone and face a slight scolding from General Ironwood than listen to you whine over something you could've fully avoided yourself."

"Tch, and what kind of gentleman would I be if just left a lovely lady hanging?" came Nate's tease as he got the door for Winter who rolled her eyes at him despite the slight pink dusting her cheeks. The two were greeted by the strong winds of Solistas which were especially biting this time of year. Nate let out a low whistle, rubbing his shoulders vigorously and thanking the gods profusely that they had found a parking spot near the entrance. Winter rolled her eyes at him looking fairly nonplussed despite her navy blue off the shoulder dress, before following the lightly jogging treasure hunter. Entering Winter's car, a simple and sleek white two door coupe with cream colored seats, Nate wasted no time turning on the seat warmer and heat full blast. He breath out a sigh of relief while Winter entered calmly clicked in her seat belt and started pulling out of the parking lot.

"How do you people live up here?" chattered Nate holding his hands up to the car's ventilation system, "It's not even snowing and I'm pretty sure I already have frostbite in places I don't wanna think about."

"Haven't you gone to far worse places on a whim in your line of work? In fact I distinctly remember our own first encounter being atop a snow capped mountain."

"Well technically it was inside a crashed pirate ship which was atop a snow capped mountain." corrected Nate with a cheeky smirk making Winter once again roll her eyes. And then they simply sat in the silence of the ride back to Nate's hotel, with little else but the heaters to provide ambient sound. With a final sigh of relief the male lean back into his warmed seat finally feeling the cold being chased away after what felt like an eternity. Unfortunately while Winter enjoyed the calm quiet, Nate was quick to grow bored of it without the prospect of avoiding his death by cold keeping him occupied.

"Sooo, what are your plans for the Solstice?" the question was the first to come into his head, and Nate had no trouble blurting it out. Winter spared him a quick glance before returning her attention to the road. With a sigh she voiced a response, for what could possibly come out of answering a rather innocent question?

"Well while other Specialist are taking the holiday off on General Ironwood's orders, I will be more productive and-"

"Whoa,whoa, whoa." the interruption made on of Winter's eyebrow twitch in annoyance, "You aren't seriously planning on _working_ during the Solstice are you?"

Rolling her eyes at the downright _dumbfounded_ look on the treasure hunter's face, "As a matter of fact I am. In fact every year I get more work done than any-"

"Oh you cannot be serious!" that's the second time he's interrupted her in as many minutes, given that time she should've been tipped off by Nate slowly shaking his leading up to the outburst but still. Times like this Winter wondered where Drake learned his manners...before promptly remembering Sully and answering her own question.

"And why not?"

"Seriously? 'Why not?'-because no one works on the Solstice, that's the whole point! No work and lots of play with crappy holiday sweaters and caroling.", despite not facing him Nate could see clearly the roll of her eyes, "Oh come on, Halloween is one thing but the Solstice? I knew you were cold but I never would have pegged you as a Grinch."

"Are you quite finished yet Mr. Drake?" questioned Winter resisting the urge to preemptively start rubbing her temples. Honestly the treasure hunter could make such a big deal out of the most minuscule things.

"Princess I'm just getting started," he began making Winter's eye twitched again. He knew she hated that nickname. "I mean seriously, working during the Holidays? What did they make you shoot your holiday spirit to prove your loyalty to Atlas or something?"

"Now you're just being melodramatic. Just because I have priorities that outweigh an overrated-"

"Oh you did _not_ just call the Solstice overrated.", and that's three times he's cut her off. With Oum as her witness, if he did so once more, she would be...displeased. "Jeez, I didn't realize you changed your name to Scrooge. I mean seriously, did the holidays just not exist in your house as a kid or did they make you practice fencing the whole time?"

The car came to a more sudden stop at the upcoming red light, and Nate could swear the was a very slight shift in temperature despite the heaters. Winter narrowed her eyes at Nathan who slowly raised his hand in a placating manner. She may never had given him much detail on her upbringing but she had let slip enough information for him to know that growing up rich wasn't at what he pictured it'd be. At least not in the Schnee household it would seem, and the icy glare she currently gave him, told that she was no mood to divulge more of her family past to him.

"Riiight, touchy subject. I get it really." he breathed out a slight sigh of relief when the light turned green and winter turned back to the road with a slight sigh. Nate awkwardly place his hands in his lap before speaking up again as they neared the vicinity of his hotel. "Sooo, you never tried celebrating after you left home? Probably could've had some real fun, ya know? Make new memories."

"There was always more important things to be done." was Winter's cool and almost… rehearsed reply, "Besides, one would most probably need friends or family for such a thing to be a possibility."

Now Nate was certain he wasn't supposed to hear that, and yet couldn't find any words to reply to that quiet admittance. Given the look on Winter's face she didn't even realize she had said it out loud, albeit mumbled and Nate couldn't help but wince. The woman looked positively resigned...sad even. Nate didn't need years of experience with the woman to know she always wore a mask of distant professionalism. Or that she also kept a lot of things bottled up for the most part,and despite her entire 'ice queen' persona she was still very much a normal human being. A woman with feelings like loneliness and hurt, no different then how he felt them. It didn't take long to decided he couldn't stand seeing her look like someone kicked her puppy.

' _Well shit, guess I don't have much of a choice do I?'_ his mind was made up even before she pulled into the lot of the modest looking hotel. Once he had his coat and other possessions in hand, Nate put on a smile and turned to Winter one last time. "Well as lovely as it's been I gotta call it a night, gotta fly back to Minstral tomorrow morning."

"Yes well, have a good night." Nate couldn't help but grimace at her tone. Even if she had schooled her expression once more, the inflection of her voice had yet to readjust. It seems she picked up on her slip this time as she didn't want to meet his gaze. She wasn't one to take pity, and wouldn't start now.

"Yeah...good night." and with that Nate closed the door to her car allowing her to pull out and leave in silence. Welp, that just cuts it. Nate had his scroll out in a flash, the cold winds forgotten as he thumbed down his contact's list. There was a short wait before Sully picked up just as Nate entered his room.

"Ugh, kid do you know what time it is over here?"

"Yeah sorry about that Sully, uh I gotta talk to you about something important." began Nate gingerly causing the older man to groan over the line.

"Please tell me this conversation isn't going to end with me flying to Atlas to get you out of some army brig for drunken misconduct or something.", Sully's tone made Nate smile again, even as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Not quite that simple unfortunately. It's about our white haired friend, er acquaintance- whatever she is." Nate let out a slight groan, briefly annoyed at himself before continuing, "Look the point is we desperately need to set up a surprise Solstice party...for Winter."

There was a long pause after that and Nate could easily imagine Sully suddenly becoming more aware at that decidedly odd declaration. Therefore he expected nothing less than the response he got from Victor Sullivan.

"Come again?"

* * *

Three days since the Holiday Ball, and Winter had been back to her usual routine which consisted of paperwork and running drills with the troops...until she got a call from her scroll. Now by itself was more than enough to peak her curiosity as Winter could count on one hand the people who could and actually _would_ call her personal device. Usually it was her sister, but this time she had no problem admitting she was caught off guard by the caller ID.

"Guess who.", Nathan Drake's voice sounded into her ear sounding far more chipper than she would've liked.

"Mr. Drake." she began almost unsure that he was really calling her. Honestly what reason did he have to call her? In fact the only reason he even had her number, she was certain, was because she had called twice now to be her plus one at formal event. And that was mostly out of a combination of necessity and lack of choice on her part.

"Correct buuut I'd rather just be called 'Nate' or 'Nathan', Captain Awesome works too but I've yet to find a taker to that one. 'Mr. Drake' on the other hand makes me sounds like I'm as old as Sully and believe me when I say I am _not_ ready for that." Winter raised an eyebrow at the muffled sound of slight indignation following the statement. Likely from Mr. Sullivan himself.

"May I inquire as to why you're calling me? I don't expect you to contact me for a social call, nor do I have time for such.", Winter stared at the pile of paper she need to fill out for upcoming missions and troop reports. She briefly felt fatigue set in before banishing it from her mind. No time to wither, non at all.

"Well as much as I _wanna_ counter that, I do kinda need your help.". Now that caught her attention, despite herself.

"My help?" she parroted slowly, "And what, pray tell, could I help you with. And more importantly is it going to somehow lead to destruction of property?"

"Sadly not this time, just need your help with something me and Sully are cooking up for a job after the Solstice. It shouldn't be anything major but we might need the, lets say 'influence,' of a highly respect person such as yourself." responded the treasure hunter making Winter pinch the bridge of her nose slightly. Was he really asking her to be his golden egg in some bizarre adventure?

"I don't have time to be tied up in your shenanigans Drake, I have far too ma-"

"Come oooon, it'll be quick I promise." pleaded the male making Winter roll her eyes, "You won't even have to fly anywhere, I'm still in town.". That however caught her attention. For several reasons actually, most of which brought a lurch to her stomach. She did _not_ like the idea of Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan running around Atlas unsupervised while on one of their 'adventures'. Speaking of which.

"You're still in Atlas? What exactly are you looking for?", there was a short paused before Nathan replied.

"Why don't you come over and find out?". Winter could _hear_ the smirk in his voice and couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. ' _I suppose it's better safe than sorry anyway. Besides, I've made acceptable process on today's paper work. I can afford going out during lunch today.'_

"I'll meet you at your hotel in an hour. You'll have thirty minutes."

"It'll only take fifteen, scouts honor." he sounded rather excited...maybe she really should be worried, "See ya then, bye." With that he hung up leaving her to blink owlishly at her scroll before shaking her head. Letting out a deep sigh, she placed her scroll to the side and without much else to do she returned to work.

* * *

"You've had a lot of hair brained schemes kid but this one has to be the weirdest." said Sullivan as he looked about their 'research'. Shaking his head, the older man blew out a puff of smoke before returning the cigar to his mouth. Honestly a Solstice party for the Ice Queen herself? What was his next plan to go clubbing with the white fang?

"Come on Sully everyone deserves a happy holiday, and besides we kinda owe her." replied Nate putting up a few decoration around the room, namely a few string of Holly, lights and three stockings over the fireplace. He took a moment to admire his work before turning to face his long time partner and began speaking once more.

"Besides you don't get to complain Mr 'these wood print will be quick cash kid'." he reminded with a smirk making Sully roll his eyes.

"I'll remember that next time you need bail kid." snorted the old man as Nate's scroll went off, prompting him to check it. He smiled seeing the name on his screen and motioned for Sully to keep quiet for a moment.

"Hey Charlie, you get my message?... Awesome, now here's-" *knock, knock*, Nate looked at the door while Sully peered at his wrist watch before promptly face palming. Nate wasn't far behind in realizing he had lost track of time since his call while he was getting things ready for step one of the plan., "Oh crap, one second Charlie" he turned to Sully and whispered, "Stall her, and remember the plan."

Sully moved to protest the idea before Nate disappeared into one of the bedrooms, shutting the door behind him. Releasing another cloud of smoke, Sully shook his head before answering the door coming face to face with one Winter Schnee with her hand in position to knock again. Quickly moving it back to her side, Winter cleared her throat before addressing Sully.

"Mr. Sullivan" she greeted him with a nod, "I see you and Mr. Drake have made yourselves at home."

"Yeah, well as much as i love the kid I wasn't planning on sharing a bed with him." Sully moved to the side to allow her in, "Speaking of which he's should be out soon, he's just getting ready. Kinda lost track of time while" he glanced at the scattered papers on the coffee table containing little more than nonsense "research. Come on in, I won't bite."

Winter seemed to mull it over for a short bit before crossing the threshold and entering the temporary living space. She took in her surroundings before her eyes landed on the table full of papers. ' _Messy'_ was the first word to come to her mind at the sight of the haphazardly treated research material before her. Shaking her head she turned to check the time on her scroll before pocketing it in her coat. She then look back up to Sully who stood by the now closed door awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So uh, want me to take your coat or something?"

"I doubt that'll be necessary." replied Winter dryly as she turned to take in the rest of place as if expecting to find something untoward. Sully filed it away 'habit of a soldier' which was something he understood well. Hell he still had to stop himself sometimes from following Naval protocol whenever he got on a boat, "I doubt he'll be long."

"Tch, then you don't know Nate. Kid take his time picking out clothes, even though he literally has only one outfit but in seven different colors. Not to mention he has to dry off, and don't even get me _started_ on his hair." Sully removed his cigar from his mouth, "It's like waiting for paint to dry."

Sighing Winter decided to oblige him if only to avoid hearing him going further off on a rant about his younger companion, and seeing no harm in it. Besides it was rather warm in hear what with the fire going. Handing off her military issue long coat, Winter looked around the room only now taking in the sparse decorations. ' _It appears as if they expect to be stay the Solstice during this 'expedition' of theirs. Hopefully they won't raise any trouble during their stay.'_ and with that though she followed the holly and multicolored lights around the room until they reached the fire place where she found a trio of stereotypically red and green holiday stockings. She scarcely registered the ruffing of her coat as Sully hung it somewhere, but at the moment that was the last thing on her mind as it began to drift.

There wasn't much, one may say it was a pitiful attempt at decorating despite the two men obviously not planning to stay here long but even so. It felt warm, and not in reference to temperature-no it felt warm in a way Winter's own home never did. Not where she currently resided and certainly never when she lived under her father's roof. She couldn't call that place a home, never a home. A home was warm and welcoming, both things her father had stamped while her mother never bothered to fix it. No Winter's mother preferred to get drunk over caring about her children while Jacques ruled the house with an iron fist. And a decidedly frozen heart that made living under his oppressive manipulation and impossible expectations almost unbearable. Winter could remember protecting Weiss and even Whitely before father decided to start grooming the boy into his ideal offspring. She remembered how hard Jacques could be on them, especially remembered standing between the two every time their father's anger flared. Standing as a bulwark in case the Schnee patriarch deemed it necessary to 'discipline' Weiss as he had her multiple times.

And it was around Solstice when thing were always at their worse. Given Jaques always spent more time managing the company around this busy time, rather than be with his own family but that somehow didn't help. Yes Winter was happy whenever her father was out of the picture but it was a fleeting sense of relief for she and her siblings were soon remind of just how cold their house could be. Growing up Winter never had many friend, she blamed that on her parents and the lack of affection affecting her own social development, but she always heard them talk. Talk about happy holiday and joyful family gatherings. And Winter always remembered how much she pined for that, how much she would give for just _one_ happy day with her family. But that wouldn't come, no the Schnee household would always be exceptionally colder this time of year.

Winter could clearly remember the tree that sat in the Schnee mansion's overly large foyer every year, lavishly decorated, but devoid of all the joy it should have had. She could remember Klein doing his best to give them a happy holiday and she could _vividly_ the depressed look of her siblings, alone in that large cold place. And Winter remembered that even after she left, thing never changed...not for her or them.

Winter unconsciously reach to touch one of the red stocking, almost bitterly noting how much more alive this small, cheap hotel room felt than her own home did. She hated being called a princess, cause that implies some sort of fairy-tale life in a loving home. But her home couldn't even compare to something as quaint as this dingy hotel suite. She couldn't help the thought that wiggled into her head ' _It's not fair.'._

"Uh, something catch your fancy Schnee?", Sully's voice shook Winter out of her stupor as she visibly recoiled her hand from the holiday decoration. She turned to see Sully sitting at the table with his research, looking at her strangely. "I don't mean to be rude but you've been staring at that wall for at least two minutes."

Winter could vaguely feel her face heating up and turned away from him to hide her embarrassment, "It's nothing, I was just...thinking.". The specialist could feel Sullivan's eye staring holes into the back of her head until he finally relented, likely deciding it wasn't worth over thinking. She couldn't help the quiet sigh of relief as she stared back at the three stockings. Honestly what was taking Nathan so lo-hold on…"Three?"

"Hm?" Sullivan was busy going looking over something on his scroll, something important(or at the very least interesting) if the look on his face was anything to go by. Winter briefly wondered if it had to do with his and Nathan's research before voicing the question she was more curious about.

"Who's the third stocking for?"

Sullivan's answer was distracted as he gave a quick reply, "Red one on the left is Sam's.". Winter quirked an eyebrow at that, given that this suite only had two seperate bedrooms and she never heard either of the two men mention a 'Sam' before. Now Winter wouldn't have given it too much thought, as she wasn't exactly close to the two and therefore didn't need to know about all their acquaintances. However. the way Sullivan almost immediately tensed as if he had said something he shouldn't have made her want to dig into this more. Also the audible 'shit' he muttered under his breath was another clue that he wasn't supposed to bring this 'Sam' up. At the very least not around her.

Looking back at the stockings, Winter eyes the red one left of the faded green stocking in the middle. It matched the red one on the right perfectly, save for the cursive 'S' embroidered into the fluffy white top. "Who's Sam?"

Sullivan looked very much uncomfortable at that question, more so than before if it was even possible. "Look it's complicated, and I really shouldn..." he drifted off seeing the look in Winter's eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Winter didn't like it when people kept secrets from her. And given how she was, Sully wouldn't put it past her think this might have something to do with him and Nate's new 'find'. Which meant an unknown and, rather justifiably, unknowns with them usually meant trouble down the road.

So to avoid a misconception, Sully took a deep breath and told the truth "Sam as in Samuel Drake, Nate's brother… he's not with us anymore." he said it with a tone that immediately conveyed to Winter what he meant and he could see the surprise in her eyes.

"Nathan Drake has a brother?" Winter combed her memory for what she had read on Nathan's file back when they had first crossed paths and vaguely remembered mention of a older sibling. The file scarcely mention the older Drake as he had been deceased for sometime by that point and therefore was quickly filed into the back of Winter's mind. She currently regretted that decision as well as her choice in words.

"Like I said Nate _had_ a brother, Sam died during a past 'expedition' and well… Nate never got over it, hell even to this day if _I_ even try to bring it up Nate just closes up. I don't think he'll ever get passed it, not really anyway." Sully smothered the stub of his cigar into the ashtray before pulling out another and lighting it, "But because the Solstice used to be their favorite holiday, Nate always puts up Sam's stocking- you know as a memorial or something."

"I-I had no idea." was the only thing Winter could come up with. And she didn't, Nate didn't seem like the type to let something get to him so much. However with that said, she could understand why this affected him. If anything happened to Weiss or even Whitely… Winter didn't want to think about what that would do to her.

Sullivan shrugged, "I wouldn't expect you to, but don't bring up with Nate. He'd be all kinds of pissed if he knew i told ya this. He prefers to play things about Sam close to the vest and salting old wounds won't do anyone good."

Winter moved to to responded before the door to Nate's room suddenly began to open making both her and Sullivan jump. "Hey sorry about taking so long I-uh what's with you guys? Grandma get run over by a reindeer while I was gone or something?" asked Nate as he looked between the two pale face occupiers of his room. Pocketing his scroll, the treasure hunter looked between the two as he awaited an answer.

"Nothing kid, listen shouldn't you two get going? Records close soon and we need those files if we wanna get past this dead end." urged Sullivan recovering from his funk first. Nate gave him a strange look, appraising the older man before looking to the only female in the room who also seemed to have recovered.

"*ahem* Yes let's get going. We're already behind schedule as it is."

"Ooookay, welp let's get going then unless you guys wanna keep acting weird that is." drawled Nate as Winter somewhat stiffly walked over and retrieved her coat before nodding at Nate who led the way out the door. With one last look at the three stocking hanging over the fireplace, Winter exited behind him. Sully let out a long sigh, placing the scroll in his hand back on the table with an audible 'thump'.

"Hold on a minute," Sullivan stared at Winter's pilfered scroll before face palming, "god dammit.". Welp at least he didn't have to remember her, rather sparse, contact list off the top of his head now. He could just write them down while looking right at the source material...he just hoped she'd buy that it fell out of her coat pocket while he was 'hanging' it.

 **Whew, that was a long one. Now originally I had planned to make this a one shot but it was so long I decided to cut it into two chapters. Second chapter will be posted tomorrow as a Christmas present. I hope you all enjoyed the ride thus far and if you did then check out Gamer's original work. I guarantee you'll love his RWBY/Uncharted Crossovers as well as all his other stories. He's a great writer and I'm proud to be able to put this out in honor of his work. I'm happy to get back into writing after a long while, and hopefully Gamer enjoys this little homage to his work. Anyway, Merry Christmas guys and I'll be seeing you tomorrow for the conclusion to this story.**


	2. Good Tidings to All

**Feliz Navidad! Time for the second half of my humble little story. Once again this is based off of Gamer of Action44D's amazing Uncharted/RWBY crossovers featuring Nathan Drake and Winter Schnee. Go check them out, I swear you'll love them a lot more than this. Seriously they're really good :D**

 **Speaking of which, i saw a review from the man himself and let me say thanks :D. That means a lot hearing from you , it really does. I didn't know what you were planning with Sam so i just worked off of what i Imagine would be the case based on what Nate does in canon. I hope I didn't flub anything you already had pictured in your head XD anyway thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the end of this story as well. Cheers to you Gamer and your amazing writing and ideas.**

 _*Briiiing, Briiiing, Briii-*_

Weiss Schnee answered her scroll on the third ring, putting down her pencil and taking a much needed break from triple checking her history report for Oobleck's class. While she didn't recognize the number, the young heiress firmly believed it was better to answer on the off chance it was something important. Also she was sure if she didn't take her eyes of the computer screen, she'd go blind to some degree. And with that in mind, "Hello?"

"Hey, is this Weiss Schnee?" asked a male voice Weiss was unfamiliar with. Was he expecting someone else? Then again, given who she was, it was common for people to think she had 'people to answer the phone for her' rather than answer it herself. Raising a sow colored eyebrow the heiress voiced

"Yes, this is Weiss Schnee. May I as-"

"Awesome!" cut in the male's voice before he turned to away from his scroll to address a 'Sully' before returning back to their conversation, "Hey, so you got a minute to talk?"

Weiss took a second to roll her eyes before replying to the man evenly, "That depends on who you are and why you are calling me.". At her tone and straight to business demeanor there was a short pause before the man spoke up again.

"..Yup your the Ice Queen's sister alright."

"Wha- _excuse me_?" exclaimed Weiss in indignant surprise at the caller's statement. She detested that nickname when used to address either her or her sister. People had no right to judge them, especially without knowing what they'd been throwing in their household!

"Woah, hey calm down their, just making an observation." began the caller in a placating manner, "The name's Nathan Drake, I'm a friend of Winter's if you can believe it."

Now normally Weiss would've rolled her eye and dismissed the man's claims as fallacy given he already seemed to several thing her elder sister _wouldn't_ associate herself with. That and she highly doubted Winter would give out her own personal contact info to someone Weiss hadn't met personally. Friend or not. However he did have the heiress number and the name 'Nathan Drake' was one she heard before. "So your the 'two-bit thief', I suppose it's a pleasure to formally meet you."

"Ah, so my reputation proceed me. Does Winter talk about me often?" by the tone of his voice, Weiss could tell Nathan was fishing for something in much the same way Yang would right before she made some ill flavored joke or comment at her expense. Ad thus she kept he answer short to avoid whatever he was trying to lead her into and get to the point of the conversation. "You could say that, now"

"Ah, well don't think less of her." came Nate's reply causing Weiss to raise an eyebrow, curiosity suddenly leading the way despite herself, "I mean everyone has their kinks, hers just happen to involve rope and riding crops."

Processing...Processing…' _Ding'-_ "I-I-I...wh-what!?", Weiss exclamation was followed by her face taking on the likeness of her partner's implications of Nathan's statement _alone_ was enough to overload the heiress, never mind the visuals her traitorous mind conjured. Damn Blake leaving his 'read materials' around for anyone to find. Weiss' small crisis was brought to an end by Nathan's cackling, his mirth turning her shock and horror into realization and indignation.

"Oh god, I can't breath." wheezed the male, making Weiss grow as she cursed her own gullibleness. She had fallen for his ruse even after taking steps to avoid it, and tha just made everything worse. Embarrassed the heiress restrained herself from yelling anymore in the library, and spoke in a irritated tone.

"Good day _Mr. Drake_." she bit out through gritted teeth causing Nathan to suddenly pause in his laughter, "Please do not contact me aga-"

"Wait,wait, wait-Just hold on a second." began the troublesome thief, "I'm sorry I should've acted my age but I really was calling about something important."

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, weighing her options in silence and leaving the man in suspense. Part of her, the vast majority in fact, wanted to simply hang up and let the man deal with the consequence of his childish antics and rude insinuations. The other parts however, reason it couldn't hurt to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Given her recent affiliations there was only one side that could win in the end and so she gave a tired sigh.

"Does that I mean i get a second chance?"

"For now." came Weiss' reply sounding tired despite herself. A sigh of relief sounded through her scroll making her raise an eyebrow.

"Okay, awesome and lets not telly our sister about this. I just realized she'd kill me for that one, friendship be damned."

"Just get to the reason behind this call." growled Weiss already regretting not hanging up on the man.

"Okay, okay-geez. So the other day I was roped into attending some Atlas holiday ball for the military because Winter need a plus one and I happened to be the only choice. It went about as well as you can expect, but on the way back she and I got to talking and well...I got the feeling you guys didn't exactly have a holly jolly Solstice growing did you?"

Weiss felt herself stiffen at statement, because his tone was that of a statement not a question, and exhaled a very slight hitch of breath. Shaking her head Weiss replied to the man icily, "I'd rather not talk about my personal life, Mr. Drake." _Especially not with you,_ she kept the second half of her response to herself though. The disappointed exhale was to be expected and it made Weiss want to bristle.

"That's what I figured." began Nathan before posing his next question, "I don't suppose to you're planning to do anything this Solstice are you?"

That made Weiss blink several times in surprise, initially thinking she had misheard him before mulling over her response. Despite social obligations, a large part of the Heiress was already seriously considering telling her father she couldn't make it home for the holiday on ground of her studies. It wasn't like he'd be affected too much, given Jacques' usual disposition, but Weiss wasn't sure how she was going to use her now vacant holiday time. She was considering an offer from Ruby and Yang to come with them to their own home in patch. Weiss knew Blake had already agreed, but she herself was still debating if she actually go through with avoiding her family this holiday season at all. Rather than explain all that to the male, Weiss chose to be vague.

"I'm currently working on plans," she paused, "And just _why_ would you like to know that anyway?"

"Cause I'm throwing Winter a surprise party for the Solstice and I figured I should invite her sister."

Weiss blinked, taking a moment to look at her phone as i trying to find some sort of deformity before bringing it back to her ear, "I'm sorry but can you explain just… why?"

Nathan made no comment in the stumble of her usual reserved mask and simply answered her honestly, "Like I said, it doesn't take much to figure out Winter never had a good ole fashion Solstice even after she left home. Or you know, a _good_ Solstice in general. And me, being the sap that I am, decided rectify this."

"So in other words," began Weiss slowly, "you want go through the effort of a surprise party so my sister can have a happy Solstice?"

"Yeah, doesn't everyone deserve a few happy memories with friends and family? Especially during the holidays. In fact you could probably do with some good cheer too, really get a chance to make new memories." Weiss was surprised, to say the least, given what very little she knew of the man from what Winter let slip and her current conversation Weiss wouldn't have expected this from him. After all what would a thief gain from doing something like this?

"That's actually...really sweet." and she was honestly touched that he cared enough to do this for her sister. Weiss knew that she and Winter both suffered in the friend department and to see that this Nathan Drake was apparently trying to do for Winter what the rest of RWBY did for herself was… comforting.

"Yeah well I try." he replied in a tone that gave of awkwardness, "Sooo, can you come? I doubt you need me to, but I can pay for a ticket if you need it."

Weiss thought on it shortly before giving a small smile. What harm could it do? Besides this was for her sister after all, "Fine, but I can handle my own plane ticket."

"Awesome!" his sudden exclamation startle her slightly, and was very reminiscent of her team leader. She could almost picture a male faunus with a dog tail wagging behind him. "I'll have a friend pick you up from the airport and bring you to her apartment." there was a slight pause before he added on, a cheeky smile in his voice, "And don't worry she's the best driver in the business."

 **(Line Break)**

After a small bit of further dialogue with Weiss Schnee, Nate hung up and looked to Sully who recently finished with his own call. "Well?" The older man let took a drag of his cigar before turning to look him in the eye.

"Turns out that Klein guy was her butler, and by the sound of it basically raised in place of her actual parents. Unfortunately Jacques Schnee doesn't exactly give out paid vacation too often even on holidays so he's stuck. Besides he say he should probably keep the youngest company, since that Whitely kid is gonna be stuck there too."

"Okay, well at least we're almost done with this part of the plan. That just leaves…" the two shared a grimace looking at the short list, "Ironwood…" Nate looked up ready to say something only find Sully already at the coat rack.

"Welp, while you handle that one kid I'm gonna go...for a walk." and with that he scampered out the door making Nathan groan. Traitor.

"Then again, I was going to try and make him do so I wouldn't have to." he started dialing the number to the general's professional contact information.

"Hello General James Ironwood's office, name and rank please."

"Nathan Drake, no rank. I just need to talk to Ironwood if he's got time. It's something really important i swear, like Hans Christia level stuff.", hopefully he won't get into too much trouble for this, but to his credit he did consider this to be pretty important. Besides there was one crucial element to this whole thing working and he was willing to bet Ironwood was just about the only man who could make it happen.

There was a long pause before he eventually got a response, "Please hold."

* * *

' _I need to focus.',_ the reverberated through Winter's skull as she uncharacteristically slogged through her reports, certain recent revelation plaguing her mind _far more_ than they should've. ' _I'm going to fall behind at this rate.'_ , she couldn't stop thinking about Nathan and his brother. She had looked into it, despite her better judgement, to see if there was anything important that was omitted from the original report she read given the length of time since Samuel Drake's death. While nothing important about Nathan was left out, she did find out that Samuel and Nathan were in a prison at the time nicknamed 'The Infernal Place', where the elder died during a prison escape enacted by the two and an unnamed third party. This only further piqued her interest and made her feel more sympathy for the thief.

Ironic as she herself hated being pitied and had enough of an idea to guess that Nathan was crazy about it either. However she couldn't help it, as she felt he gaze gravitate to her idle computer. ' _I_ really _need to focus.'_. Given what she knew, Nathan and Sully tended to 'travel' light due to their lifestyle and therefore it was safe to assume that went for Sam as well. And with some of the detail Nate shared with her about the 'finer points of treasure hunting' that could very mean that Sam left little more than that stocking for Nathan to remember him by. And that was in no way her business, and she had no reason to intrude or even care. Which is why she quietly cursed herself before turning to her computer.

The specialist remembered hearing some of the soldier who handle the escort of VIPs mention an 'infernal place' whenever they pulled prisoners transport to Vacuo. Typing 'Infernal Place, Prison' she clicked on the first link one the top of the page. She was brought to one of the archived documents in the database and found it to be Deridder Penitentiary, a prison notorious for its extreme security tactics and for housing the worst criminals from all over remnant. Including several high profile Atlesian undesirables, mostly consisting of White Fang in the recent decades. It also hold the honor of being the largest prison on all of Sanus.

But what Winter was interested in were the two men kept there, which she found hard to dig much on them aside from the basic information kept by all prisons. Even their escape was little more than a brief footnote. Not to mention either the third man who was with them during the escape, or even the _reason_ the two were sent there in the first place seemed to be completely left out. Groaning at both the obscene lack of information and her own pointless fixation on this subject, Winter started rubbing her temples.

"Honestly, not even listing they were sentenced for? What kind of management does this prison have?." she muttered to herself looking back up, registering that one last transport was scheduled for year right before the Solstice. Some White Fang bomber if she was reading corre-

"Specialist Schnee?"

Winter jumped a bit in her chair at the surprise intruder, before quickly turning to see who had snuck up on her. She saw a young looking girl with dark skin, wearing a simple staff uniform. Taking a moment to process this, Winter clear her throat and used the hand she brought up to his her light flush. "Yes?"

"General Ironwood would like to see you in his office whenever you have the time." informed the magenta eyed woman making Winter perk up before nodding.

"I'll be there right away." replied Winter making the woman nod as well before going off on further business. Letting out a sigh before closing her search tab, Winter stood and left to go meet with the general. ' _Hopefully this'll do my head some good, get me refocused on what's important.'_ she thought to herself as she walked down the hall at a steady pace, heels clacking against the hard floors. Upon reaching the door to Ironwood's office, Winter knocked twice before patiently wait. Soon the door was opened and Winter was greeted by the small reception area where the general's secretary sat, diligently working behind her monitor before looking and Winter and smiling softly.

"Ah Miss Schnee, please wait one moment."

Winter didn't have to wait long after the secretary informed Ironwood of her arrival, for she was almost immediately given permission to enter. Stepping into his office, Winter was greeted by the sight of General Ironwood reading over a document before signing it and placing the paper to the side of his large desk. Regarding Winter with a small smile and a nod, Winter saluted her commanding officer before speaking when he motioned for her to be at ease.

"You wish to speak to me sir?"

"Yes, that would be why I called you up here. This shouldn't take too long, but feel free to take a seat should you feel like it." replied the general motioning to the vacant chairs in front of his desk. Winter shook her head before politely declining.

"While I appreciate the offer, I've been sitting all day so standing is actually preferable at the moment."

Nodding at the understandable sentiment Ironwood stood up from behind his desk and straightened his jacket. After all, stretching his legs after several hour firmly sat in his chair would do him some good. And he preferred to look someone in the eye on equal level rather than,say, having to look up from his desk. "Right, now that pleasantries are out of the way onto why I've called you here." state Ironwood, clasping his hands behind his back while Winter straightened in attention, "I'm ordering you...to stay home this holiday."

Winter blinked at that in surprise, briefly wondering if she had misheard the leader of the Atlesian military. When he said nothing, simply waiting for her to process the information, she knew she had hear him correctly. "I..What?"said Winter posture breaking as she briefly forgot all form of military holding a chuckle while Winter realized her slip, Ironwood watched she returned the form a slight blush on her face.

"It shouldn't be a surprise Schnee, considering how much work you put in, you of all people deserve a break." explained the general watching Winter shake her head after processing his words, "And considering you've yet to slow down even after that mess with Hans Christia, I think you need some time off more than ever."

"With all due respect sir," began Winter, "While I appreciate the gesture I can assure you that I am fully capable of fulfilling my duties. Besides I can't just sit back with so much to be-"

"Atlas' military won't fall apart just because you take a single week off." interrupted Ironwood with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Besides the entire time I've known you, you very rarely miss even a single day. Combine that with your work effort, you have should have plenty of cushion to avoid falling behind. One year to enjoy the holidays won't hurt anybody, I can promise you that much Schnee."

Winter let out a sigh, unable to voice a response out of respect for her superior but still uncomfortable with this turn of events. Sure it was hard work sometimes and tedious at others, but she still enjoy her profession. She enjoyed because she made a difference and it kept her mind off of...other things. Even if only for a few days, Winter wasn't keen on being alone in her home without anything worthwhile to do. And she certainly didn't want to get stuck at her _father's_ for any amount of time, holiday season or not. At the thought of her father Winter couldn't help but narrow her eyes off to the side. Ironwood and her father were friends, or at the very least acquaintances, and that this request was decidedly odd. Ironwood never questioned her decision to work through holidays, and at times even openly welcomed her initiative. This was out of the norm to say the least and she wouldn't put it past her father to have-

"I can assure you this has nothing to do with Jaques or any of his...machinations." assured Ironwood, stepping around his desk making Winter look at him in surprise. It was like he had read her mind, and his assurance only made her feel guilty for ever thinking the General could be manipulated by her father like everyone else. She should know better.

"Spend the Solstice with friends or loved ones, people you can relax with. A little time to clear your head and relax yourself will likely do good thing to your performance moving forward. Besides you deserve R&R more than anyone else I know." said Ironwood placing a hand on Winter's shoulder, getting her to calm her nerves. It didn't take much to figure out she was already driving herself crazy at the prospect of not having something to do. "And even if you don't want to, this _is_ an order."

Winter couldn't help the the slight huff of laughter that escaped her at one of the General's rare attempts at humor. Bringing his arm back to his side the general turned to make his back to his desk,likely to end this short meeting and return to work. However something entered Winter's mind and despite every fiber of being being against asking something so odd for such silly reasons-"Actually if I may General, I'd like to put in a request for attendance on a mission before the Solstice."

Stopping to turn back to her, Ironwood raised an eyebrow at her combing his mind for any memory of significant missions during the week before the Winter Solstice. Remembering none, Ironwood simply asked which mission she wanted to partake in.

"The transfer of Prisoner Satin Holger to Deridder Penitentiary, if it's fine of course."

Ironwood thought about her request, pondering the specialist's own strange request. To be honest he wouldn't have she would've even had known about the prisoner transfer, never mind ask to be apart of the security detail. "I don't see why not but may I ask why? Surely you realize that particular mission doesn't require some of your expertise."

Nodding at her superior, Winter briefly struggled to come up with a reason as why she'd want to partake in a normally menial operation. And while she abhorred lying to people, especially the man she respected so much, she also didn't want to tell him she wanted to go for no other reason than Nathan Drake. She had to fight down the heat in her cheek at the very thought of even trying to explain that to the general. Luckily the General's sigh brought Winter out of her own head, and end her dilema for her.

"Request granted, escort leaves on a bullhead tomorrow morning. You'll be place in charge of the operation." stated Ironwood, causing Winter's shoulder to relax in relief, "Is there anything else?"

"No sir, have a good day."

"And good day to you Schnee, dismissed." replied Ironwood watching at Winter gave another salute before turning and exiting his office. He waited a full minute after she left through the door of the small reception rooms before sighing. Walking the rest of the way back to his desk, he couldn't help the small smile. The last person her expected to call him earlier that day was Nathan Drake, and while it would've normally alarmed him that the thief somehow got his hand on a number he very much _shouldn't have,_ he was more than willing to put it aside when he heard it was something important. Important as in to the same tune as the debacle of the last time the Atlas military had to work with the treasure hunter. Of course he wasn't happy when he find out Nathan had lied about that just to get a call with him, but he was willing to forgive when he heard him out.

Winter was a great soldier and a good woman, if a little 'stiff' in her day to day life. Sometimes she reminded him of Glynda, and other times himself. Ironwood had been one of the first to recognize her potential and personally took her under his wing following her graduation from Atlas Academy. He guided her and gave her the one thing Jacques never did, a role model. Perhaps even a father figure if the way she took to following him around like a lost puppy at times said anything. And in the end he did care for her as a friend and student, so even though he respect her wishes, he still wished she would take a break once in a while. And yes he realized how hypocritical that was coming from him, but even so when Drake called him and spoke of his odd plan well, he decided it wouldn't hurt to give some slight aid. After all Winter needed time to relax before she worked herself into a crash, and even more than that, she need _friends._ People she could interact with outside of work would wonders for her, and open up a door firmly shut by her upbringing.

Sitting in front of his desk Ironwood spoke up so his secretary could hear him, "Maron could you please call Mr. Nathan Drake and tell him that the thing we discussed earlier is done." he paused briefly before adding, "And please be sure to tell him to delete this number from his phone, it's not for civilians use and good intentions or not I will have to arrest him next time."

* * *

There was a myriad of differences between Atlas and Vacuo, the difference in governance and temperature being two of the most obvious among them, but apparently the two kingdom seemed to share a mindset when it came to prisons. Or so it appeared at first glance. The isolated location and overall design from outside seemed to convey as much. Of course the fact this prison had formerly been a Mantle Military base from shortly before the great war likely had something to contribute to that. Though it was hard to imagine something as pristine and secure as anything of Atlas design being under all of this dirt and rust, guarded by men who looked shadier than a palm tree. The rather large man with a nose ring and a decidedly _deadly_ look in his eyes further hammered in that notion when stepped of the bullhead. Unlike the other who simply wore dark brown uniforms, he also had on a heavy chest-plate similar to that worn by Atlesian regulars, likely showing he was of higher rank than the guards with him.

"Specialist Winter Schnee of the Atlas Military." greeted the woman walked up to the man and offering her hand for a shake as she angled her head up to look at the man. The behemoth of a man merely stared down at her like he was dealing with some cockroach, one hand on his belt near the dust power electric baton and his other one un-moving at his side. Winter wasn't usually one to be intimidated, especially not by first impression alone, but she couldn't help but feel like the bull horns sticking from his forehead fit almost too well. Especially when he was a guard at a prison deemed 'Infernal Place' by just about everyone.

"Let me go! You can't make me go in there, you can't!"

Speaking of which, her prisoner was making a scene and so she turned from the silent man to face him. Narrowing her eyes as the men who were also assigned to this mission struggled with the prisoner despite his heavy restraints. Something about a hardened killer like the man before her wailing and begging like a freightened child was somehow both rewarding and disturbing. She kept a hand on her sword just in case she had to intervene. "As you can see we've arrived with the-" the large guard captain shoved past her without a word, "prisoner we... promised."

Ignoring her words as they drifted into oblivion, the Captain walked toward the three his hulking mass casting a large shadow over the struggle. Once the two Atlas regulars noticed the rather unamused looking man, they quickly backed off just as his hand grabbed their prisoner by his face. Winter for a moment could only gape as the Captain picked up her charge by his head, his large hand muffling the pain/terrified screams of the prisoner as his feet left the ground. The Captain then took one step back towards Winter and with only a light effort tossed man clear past Winter and at the feet of two other guards. Letting out a groan the prisoner rolled over, his hand already nursing a dislocated shoulder he was met with a guard hitting him with a deactivated stun baton.

"Get up!" ordered the guard while the other pulled the prisoner to his feet and shoved him ahead. The whole interaction took a few seconds and Winter was quick to compute in all before turn to face the Captain. Only to be met with his armored chest.

"Papers." he said, or rather growled at her. Winter couldn't help narrowing her eyes at the brute before her as he matched her glare. While he was slightly reminiscent of the last unfriendly giant she had the displeasure of meeting, Winter could already tell this man was near the same level as threat. Possibly similar strength but not skill or equipment.

"Was that really necessary? Even if he is a terrorist, we shouldn't stoop to such a level." replied Winter ignoring his previous blunt attempt to get her to sign the required papers and leave. The Captain merely continued to glare down at her like an animal eyeing up an intruder to its territory. Letting out a deep sigh, Winter shook her head and instead chose to move forward, "I'll sign the papers but before I go, I wish to speak to your warden on… separate matter."

The Captain said nothing, merely standing there seemingly as the pure embodiment of malice for a solid two minutes before eventually turning around with a huff. He took several steps away from her, before stopping to bring his radio up to speak into. He began speaking in a hushed tone that made her strain to hear, before he received a reply. Nodding to himself the Captain turned back to Winter and motioned for her to follow him. Hesitating only for a moment, Winter quickly fell into step behind the Captain as he lead her through the prison as a leisurely pace. This gave Winter more than enough time to take in the down right deplorable state of affair going on within these walls. Turns out the show back at the landing pad was just the tip of the iceberg as far as how guard went about the 'enforcing order'. Aside from the brutal staff laying down no less than three separate beating she could see on their route and the prison itself was little more than filthy. The stains that lined several of the cleaner walls only seemed to highlight both points at once. As they moved away from the area dedicated to actually housing the criminals, the halls became moderately cleaner and better kept, increasing in such regards until the reach a large wooden door. The Captain pushed open the door, revealing a dimly lit office with a man sitting behind a large mahogany desk polish a rather large pistol silver plated pistol. The man wore an all black vest suit with white tie, and tattoos on the back of each hand, Black Skull on the left and a cracked crown on the right. He paused in his actions and looked to her with a smile that send chills down her spine.

"Ah, you must be Specialist Winter Schnee. I didn't actually believe my second in command here when he told me _you_ were visiting our humble little slice of heaven." he began standing up from his desk, and holstering his magnum as he reached out for a handshake. Now it was Winter's turn to stare at the offered limb before carefully shaking it. Her caution only seemed to grow seeing her caution.

"Warden Haywood I presume?"

"That's me, Warden, Huntsman, Showman." replied the Warden releasing her hand to make grand gesture to accompany his words, "So, what brings you to my office? Surely a woman of your 'stature' isn't made to prance around this cesspit."

Winter ignored the man's antic, feeling unnerved around him for some odd reason, and went straight to business, "I've come inquire about a pair past inmates formerly kept within these walls."

The Warden raised an eyebrow at her, stepping around his desk to stand directly in front of Winter with his arms crossed over his chest. "And just who might that be? As you know we get a large assortment of, lets say, 'undesirables', for various reasons from all over Remnants. So you'll have to be very specific here."

"Nathan and Samuel Drake." was Winter's short reply to the man's ramblings. While the Warden's smile didn't change the glint tha flashed through his eyes gave Winter the distinct memory of a furious Ursa's own. The sickly sweet tone he then address her with only made her skin crawl more. She could hear the Captain shifting behind, and could feel the malice radiating off him increase.

"Why Miss Schnee," he began placing his hands on his hips as he started approaching her,"why would you come here looking for _those two_ nobodies?"

"Nobodies you say? Considering their brash escape attempt I'd hardly consider them nobodies, even if one did perish." replied Winter meeting the Warden's gaze. His smiled seemed to only widen at her statement before eyeing his underling behind her. Sparring the Captain a quick glance to see him backing away from her, and narrowed her eyes.

"Yes well, I suppose they did kill my predecessor and make a downright _daring_ escape but Vargas never was much of a, let's say 'architect'. Me? I'm far more creative when it comes to keeping my inmates in lines, and believe me when I say _no one_ has any delusions of leaving this place prematurely. Well not in the way they'd like anyway." replied the Warden staring at Winter in a way that felt almost predatory, "So why do you even care about them anyway?"

"It's-" she paused, "part of an ongoing investigation involving the surviving brother. Recently he's been meddling in Atlas affairs and I-"

"You know, I get that you have this whole 'goody two shoes' shtick going and I can respect that," began the Warden cutting her off, "But god damn your lying is horrendous."

Winter felt an eyebrow twitch at that, "Excuse me?". Saying nothing the Warden simply stepped back and leaned onto his desk, crossing his arms once more as he waited. Sighing, Winter spoke up once more "I wish to know if there are any belongings of the late Samuel Drake.". The warden Let out a dry laugh at that, startling Winter with the sudden act.

"Really? You and Drake? Well I've seen some odd couples but _that_ is one coming right out of left field." the warden clapped his hand to emphasize his amusement. Winter felt her face heat up at the insinuation, a combination of indignation and embarrassment.

"That is _not_ why I-"

"Save it," cut in the Warden raising a hand stop her, "I don't actually care, nor do I have any objections to fulfilling your request."

Winter blinked at that, surprise getting the better of her after that statement, "You...don't?"

"Of course not!" began the man boisterously, "However since this _is_ a break from the norm, perhaps you can offer some 'compensation'."

Now Winter's eyes narrowed once more at the Warden, "Excuse me? You aren't actually asking to my face for a _bribe._ "

"Come on Winter, may I call you Winter?" he didn't bother to wait for her objection, "I'm going to be putting my men at risk, looking for something might not even be there. Some compensation is in order, just in case the worse comes to pass. I'm sure you can understand that."

Winter grit her teeth at the downright _Gaul_ this man possessed, to ask her of all people for a bride of all things. The idea that this man ran this prison made her skin crawl. Storming up to him, outrage overriding sense, Winter jabbed her pointed into the Warden's chest, "I will do no such thing, in fact I think I'll report you and this establishment's _multiple_ violations instead!"

If the Warden was shaken by her declaration, he didn't show it and merely kept his perpetual crooked smile. He angled his head to the captain and made a motion with his hand to leave. There was a short moment of hesitation before the hulking mass stalked out the door, shutting it behind him firmly. Once the two were alone in silence, staring each other down as if about strike out at any time, the Warden eventually spoke up.

"Hmm, I can see we've moved onto to threats." he began seeming to be quite amused with the whole ordeal, "Now here is my rebuttal… Do you know why people are sent here from all over the world Winter?" He moved her hand so she wasn't digging a finger into his pectorals, "We get prisoner from all over because all four kingdoms _know_ that people who end up in 'The Infernal Place' can be guaranteed two things. They'll get their just deserts and short of a miracle they will never see the outside of this place ever again. We're truly a hell on earth for everyone who deserves it. And trust when I say everyone, even your previous Atlas, wants and _needs_ us."

He paused to reach behind him grabbing the landline of his desk and holding it out to Winter, "So go ahead, make your call. Lets see if anyone actually cares and even if on the off the chance they do? We both know they can't actually do anything and _surely_ Vacuo won't care enough to do anything about it either." Winter looked at the scroll and then to the Warden several times as she took in his words, "They know exactly the kind of operation we run here and they don't care. They just send us their trash to be held or broken. A lot of times both and they don't care how we do it, they wouldn't care if I lit one prisoner on fire every day for a _whole year._ They don't care if we kill a few prisoner or they kill each other, they don't care if I take bribes, and I can guarantee they won't care if I make some spoiled who got too big for her britches disappear because in the end? They need men like me to keep men like them in check, and you know what? I love every second of it, so please." he pushed the device into Winter's hands, "Take pictures, make your phones call, bring whoever you want because in the end it doesn't matter. At most I'll be told to resign and then they'll get someone just like me, only less effective, to take over and nothing will change."

Winter silently stared at the old communication device in her hands as she mauled over the Warden's words. The man was arrogant, sadistic, and downright insufferable but he had a point… He and the guard made no effort to hide what they did, not in front of her and likely not in front of anyone else. Deridder has existed for decades with its reputation living in infamy from the very start, so the chances people already knew what went on within it's wall were high. And by extension so were his claims that no one would actually care about the brutality that went on behind the Infernal Place's closed doors. Speaking of the doors the one behind her opened up to reveal random guard, causing the Warden to turn away from Winter. Grabbing the landline back with no resistance and placing it on the desk, he made his way to the waiting guard. Winter could only grit her teeth knowing this slime could get away with what he was doing simply on the basis that he was doing it other people just like him.

"By the way we did find something."

Winter looked over in surprise, having not actually expected them to turn anything up at all, never mind so quickly. It made her wonder just how efficient these guard could be when they put their mind to it. And if this was the real deal.

"Guards asked around, and found an inmate with Mr. Drake's lighter. Had to rough him up a bit but they got it from him." the Warden held out a decorated zippo lighter, "And for a small fee it can be yours." Winter gritted her teeth at the man before her before closing her eyes in defeat, despite every fiber of her being arguing vehemently against this.

"Hey come on don't be like that," smiled the Warden, "One good rape shower and you'll be over this. Everyone has to swallow that this is how the world works at some point, might as well be now Winter."

The specialist gave no reply, simply reaching into her coat. Once she stomped out of his office, the two prison staff stood there in silence before the guard spoke up, "How come you didn't just tell her about Drake Warden?"

"She didn't ask." was the Warden's simple reply, "Besides I'm not giving up my favorite punching bag just yet. Speaking of which, what did you do with good ole Sammyboy after you got that silly little light off of him?"

"He gave the Captain a black eye sir, but we taught him a lesson. Pretty sure the Captain is gonna throw him in isolation."

The Warden snorted at that, "You mean he's taking him outside to throw him in the pit right? I don't know why but I'm pretty sure he finds putting people in the hole cathartic for some reason." he shrugged his shoulders, "Just make sure we don't forget him down there this time."

* * *

"Okay, you two sure you got everything in the van?" asked Nate the trio in front on him. Charlie regarded him with a sigh before actually responding.

"For the last bloody time mate, it's all squared away.", Charlie leaned against the van's rear doors, as he spoke, "Honestly there are easier way to get into a woman's pants.". Nate shook his head preparing a rebuttal before another voice entered the fray.

"Oh come there, we both know Nate isn't one for doing things the easy way." chimed in Chloe sitting on the hood of her parked rental, "Still never wouldn't taken you for the type to chase after good girls."

"Ha ha, very funny you two." replied Nate, crossing his arms, "If you're done making fun of something that isn't happening can you please put your game faces on?". To say he had grown tired of this little gag about an hour ago would be an understatement.

"Alright, alright." said Charlie putting his hand up in a placating manner, "But first, do you want the mistletoe over the door for when you two first walk in, or should be hang it in her bedroom?"

Nate let out a groan bringing a hand his face in exasperation, figuring he probably deserved this in some karmic way. "I think that means the bedroom." added Chloe with a smirk making Charlie chuckle.

"As amusing as it is to see Nate squirm, can we not put the idea of dealing with both of them at the same on a regular basis in my head? Either one is bad enough, thank you very much." added Sully coming around the side of the van, "Never mind what their _kids_ would be like, I think I'm getting a hernia just thinking about."

"You and me both mate." chuckled Charlie, following by Nate's letting out a long sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I am so getting you all back for this." he muttered before feeling his scroll vibrate, and pulling it out of his pocket, "Okay it's Winter. She's ready to go, now you _seriously_ you guys know what to do while i keep her busy right?"

"Me and Vic here go up to start setting up for the party, assuming you remember to get us a way into her apartment." said Charlie, ruffling through his pocket for his keys.

"And I go pick up the other rich girl and our other guests. Don't worry Nate if we can help you find ancient cities, then we can bloody well handle this." smiled Chloe, crossing her arms for emphasis.

"Awesome, I'm going up then." said Nate turning and hurrying out of the side alley to the front the building. One short elevator ride later and nate was one the third floor of the rather stylish apartment building. Walking past a few other numbered doors to find Winter's suite and knocking on the door. A few second later, the door automatically unlocked making Nate raise an eyebrow at the lack of appearance from Winter, "Guess that mean 'come in' then." he muttered as he pushed the door open and walking in the fairly large apartment. He smirked seeing they had plenty of space to work with, before looking around for Winter.

"I'll be out in a minute.", well speak of the devil. Nate looked up to the first floor where the voice originated from, and smirked.

"Didn't you give me crap about not being ready when you came to pick me up?"

"That is different." began Winter, voice drawing closer, " _I_ merely need finish touches, _you_ only just started preparing when I came to pick you up."

Nate rolled his eyes taking a look around the ground floor of the apartment while Winter came down the stairs, "You know this place is pretty sweet, who picked it? I _know_ your taste is way more boring than-woah."

When Winter stepped out around the corner she revealed herself to have ditched her usual uniform for once in favor of a new ensemble. She wore white slim fit trousers, tucked into knee length wedge heel boots. She wore a black turtleneck under a white open blazer, and tying the casual look together was the fact Winter currently had her hair down. The woman raised an eyebrow at Nate's face, briefly trying to read him before simply asking what was wrong.

"Is there a problem Mr. Drake?" she questioned making Nate snap out of it.

"Uuuhh, nothing's wrong really." he began rubbing the back of his head, "You just look good out of uniform, I-I mean that in the most innocent way possible."

It took Winter a second to fully catch onto to the meaning of Nate's words, which is when a blush started creep across her cheek. Shaking her head, she moved past him to retrieve her small baby blue purse. "Can we simply go?" she asked wanting to move on from this conversation.

"Right," said Nate getting the door, "Don't forget to lock your door."

"Of course not," scoffed the Specialist, as she exited the apartment. Nate covertly watched her inputting the code to her apartment before quickly making to look casual when she turned around. Raising a suspicious eyebrow at Nate, Winter sighed before walking on ahead giving Nate the chance to text the door code to Sully. The two quickly reach the ground floor, where Nate directed Winter to his rental which was strategically park in the direction opposite of where his cohorts were waiting.

"You know we could've just taken my vehicle." said Winter, getting into the passenger seat of the sedan.

"I can't expect you to chauffeur me everywhere when I'm in Atlas right? Besides I invited you, so really I'm obligated to anyway." replied Nate as he turned the key in the ignition. ' _Aaand this way I can make sure the other get as much time as they need.'_ he thought to himself as he pulled onto the road.

"I find it hard to believe it hard to believe that someone like you forgot to get Mr. Sullivan a gift until the eve of the Solstice." said Winter, "Nor do I see the reason as to why I have to come."

"Cause having you around is a lot more fun than having a GPS. I mean it's not by a very far margin but still." smiled Nate making Winter roll her eyes, "Besides didn't you say over the phone you still haven't gotten your sister anything?"

Blushing at the reminder Winter shook her head, "I wasn't expecting to be off until recently, I was merely going to send her a card as I do every year."

"Well I find it adorable you're using your precious free time to visit your little sister."

"Oh quiet you." huffed Winter halfheartedly. They drove on for several minutes with several short bouts of small talk, each initiated by Nate as they went.

"So we might be out here for a little bit, wanna get some lunch?" offered Nate making Winter raise an eyebrow, "Just nowhere too expensive, not everyone here is made of Lien."

"If you promise not to be insufferable, then I suppose there is no harm in it." sighed Winter making Nate snort at the statement.

"I make insufferable charming and you know it." he boasted, pulling into the parking lot.

"I refuse to give that statement the benefit of a response." replied Winter shortly before stepping out into the mall parking lot as Nate turned off the car. Soon the two were inside the mall where Nate took his time leading on a wild goose chase throughout the mall on the search for the

'perfect ugly shirt' to add to Sully's collection. Of course he knew this wouldn't last long and eventually settle on god awful purple floral pattern shirt he knew Sully would love to go along with the new cigar case he'd already bought him. After than he ended up following Winter for a bit looking for a gift for Weiss. This proved surprisingly harder, as Winter wasn't exactly the gift giving type and hadn't had the chance to buy her sister anything since they were small children. This led to Nate having to put in his two cents in every so often when Winter seem on the fence about something.

At some point they end up by a jewelry store on Nate's suggestion to see if there was something there Winter would want to get for her sister. Nate had been leaning against the counter making a game of comparing the item on display to some of the things he's found on his various adventures around remnant. He was proud to say the shop had nothing on the same level of the artifacts he's found. Well, at least that how he scored it. When he looked over he found Winter staring intently at something in the case, and walked over to find her staring at a pair of sterling silver geometric engraved stud earrings. They were simple but elegant in their own way, and fit perfectly for what they were looking for.

"Your sister likes earrings huh?" he observed with a smile. Winter seemed slightly startled by his presence before shaking her head.

"Not particularly no." she admitted walking away making Nate raise an eyebrow looking back to the earrings, "Come along, I think I know what I'm getting Weiss."

' _Does she like them? How come she didn't get them, was she embarrassed to or something?'_ Nate looked back to her retreating form before sighing, "You go on ahead, I need to use the little boy's room." he called prompting her to rolls her eyes yet no all the same before leaving. Nate watch her go down the way they came a few stores before entering one before he turned back to the jewelry display.

"I swear I must be going soft or something." he muttered motioning for the man working the store to come over.

* * *

"I'm telling best pizza you'll ever have is from Vale, hands down." said Nate still going on about the superiority of pizza from Vale compared to Atlas, "And I'm not saying pizza is supposed to be gourmet or anything but, _come on_ , even the sauce on that pizza tasted funny."

"It was you who insisted we eat there," reminded Winter rolling her eyes, "besides I don't see the appeal of something so greasy anyway."

"Uptight, Grinchy and a health freak-you are just the full package aren't you?" quipped the treasure hunter as they entered the elevator.

"Say what you will but my eating habit will see me live a long and productive life." countered Winter easily as the elevator beeped on her floor. Nate laughed, motioning for her to go first which she did.

"You mean a long and _boring_ life right?" smiled Nate, earning a sigh from Winter as she rolled her eyes, "Sooo, on another note you sure your sister is gonna like that gift you got her? It seems pretty...basic, no offense."

If Winter was offended she didn't show it, merely looking at the dark purple boxing in her hand, holding a rather beautiful black fountain pen with Weiss' name engraved in silver down the side. It nay be simple but Winter was sure it'd be right up Weiss' alley, or so she hoped. Winter swore she was the worse at gift giving despite all input to the contrary, "I like to think she will," offered the specialist at last as they stopped in front of her door.

Nate watched with growing excitement as she reached for her door's key pad, fighting back his mad man's smile as she entered each number of the six digit code. However he frown when she paused rather than open the door after unlocking it, and fear she knew something was wrong when she slowly turned to face him

"While we're on the subject," she began making him blink surprise as she reached in her pocket, "While I realize it wasn't any of my business, I still felt the need to retrieve this so... Merry Solstice I suppose." . She almost sounded nervous as she finally pulled her closed fist out of her pocket making Nate slowly smirk at her action.

"Aaw, did you get something for little ole me? You shouldn't ha-" he cut himself abruptly upon Winter opening her closed hand. Nate mind shut down briefly as his jaw hit the floor, not believing what he was seeing. A simple stainless steel lighter with a pirate's insignia on it, position such that the skull would appear to open its mouth whenever someone flipped open the zippo for use. He recognized the insignia as one belonging to a Pirate by the name of Henry Avery and the lighter itself to belong to-"S-Sam.", he choked out the name without care, "T-that's Sam's…"

Nate shook his looking briefly up to Winter who met his eyes with a sympathetic look, "I-Why did-I can't even…" He stopped his rambling, struggling to organize his thought among the whirlwind of emotions that racked his body. "H-How?"

"I" she paused to find come up with an answer, "I came across the name 'Sam Drake' in your file back when we first met and well I just happened to be assigned on a prisoner transport to the prison you two were in, I thought I'd ask about your brother's personal belonging while I was there."

Nate shook his head once more, having to take a step back before leaning forward, his hands on his knees. He took several deep breath before looking back up at a now worried looking Winter and his brother's lighter. Reach forward with a shaky hand Nathan took the lighter from Winter and held it in his own, staring at the zippo his brother used to always carry around while running a thumb over the skull and crossbones.

"I apologize if I cross into territory i shouldn't have but I-" Winter was cut off when Nates suddenly lunged forward, wrapping her in a suffocating hug. She instantly felt the heat rush to her face, before feeling something wet on the side of her neck and soaking into the collar of her turtleneck. Nate was crying. For a while Winter didn't know what to do and simply allowed him to hold her there while he got himself back under control.

"Thank you." whispered Nate before pulling back and wiping his eyes, a sad yet genuinely happy smile on his face.

"Right well," Winter shook her head before smiling seeing him happy, "you are welcome."

They simply stood in silence for sometime before Nate suddenly remembered why he was here and widened his smile, "Well, this isn't much n the way of being equal but I hope you like it." Winter raised an eyebrow at Nate's words before he pushed open the door for her. No sooner that it had opened all they was was she startled by a thunderous "SURPRISE!".

"Wha?" she stared in shock at the people in her apartment, as well as the large assortment of decoration, food and drink, and the banner reading 'Merry Solstice' in large red and green lettering. She even saw her sister standing alongside Sullivan and the others who had been waiting inside the room.

"Yeah so, that 'job' me and Sully were working was actually this silly plan I had." said Nate prompting Winter to look his way as he motioned to the party waiting before them.

"You planned all this?" she began quietly, "For me?"

"Yeah well, you seemed so sad when we were talking about the Solstice before I just couldn't let you stay like that." Nate started to explain rubbing the back on his head turning to regard the attendees. Aside from Weiss, Chloe and Charlie- the two had also invited Tenzin and daughter as well as Marisa Chase. It was Nate who decided to invite all of their own friends, purely to hopefully expand Winter's own very small circle of actual friends. "I thought you deserved some happy holiday memories."

"Y-you didn't have to-"

"Yeah but I wanted to." smiled Nate, "Now come on, that eggnog won't drink itself." With that he grabbed winter's hand pulling her inside for the the celebration.

* * *

Nate awoke the next morning sprawled against Winter's living room coach, a dull ache in his head from the night before. "Ah crap." he groaned rubbing his head, "All I want for Solstice is pain killers."Standing up Nate approached the nearby kitchen to find a certain white haired woman already making coffee. "Hey Winter," he greet softly causing her look his way in slight surprise, "Merry Solstice."

"I didn't think you'd be up already." she responded honestly, "Are you sure you're okay, you sound terrible."

"Gee thanks." replied Nate sarcastically, "Mind pouring me a cup?"

"If you think you can handle it." replied Winter with a small smile at the treasure hunter's expense. Nate snorted, thinking he'd actually be proud of her right now if his head wasn't aching.

"Really _now_ you got jokes? What a time to grow a sense of humor." muttered the treasure hunter as he sat down at the specialist's island, "Everyone else go home yet?"

"For the most part." replied Winter handing Nate a mug of coffee before sipping from her own. Nate nodded his thank before drinking the warm beverage. "Yesterday was...quite enjoyable."

"Is that your way of saying you had fun? Cause if you don't mind me saying, you really need to work on it." quipped Nate in between sips. Winter smirked besides herself, rolling her eyes at the man.

"Thank you for the party, I… I really did enjoy myself, even if thing got a little rowdy near the end." she said making Nate regard her with his own smile.

"My pleasure, in fact my only regret aside from the small hangover is that we didn't get to watch the movies if brought along. Dam shame too, I haven't seen 'Polar Express' in forever." he paused in thought, "Oh right! Before i forget I have something else for you." Winter watched as Nate returned to the living.

"You didn't." began Winter, "Honestly you've already done too much."

"And what you didn't." scoffed Nate coming back with a small brown bow in hand, "I mean aside from a old Solstice stocking and one old photo I didn't really having anything to remember Sam by." He flicked open the box, "This isn't a problem trust me."

Winter felt her mouth open a bit when she saw the earring from the previous day sparkling back at her, "You bought me the earrings."

"Yeah, figure you like them since you spent like two minutes staring at them. You know you're allowed to self indulge once in a while right?" smirked Nate as Winter took the earring and regard him with a smile.

"Thank you Nathan, this- _all of this,_ was really sweet. And it was certainly more than what anyone else has ever done for me during the holidays." Winter's statement was an honest one and it made Nate smile even wider.

"Like I said the pleasure was mine."

Winter looked past him towards the living room, "You know I've heard people talk about that movie you bought, I'm sure Weiss would like it."

"I'm willing to be you would too." responded Nate casually, taking another sip from his coffee, "I could let you borrow it."

Winter pondered the offer for a minute before shaking her head, "No, that wouldn't be fair to you, after all you're the one who wanted to see it all night."

"Well," Nate began gingerly, "I _could_ stick around and we can watch it together. If that's okay with you and Weiss of course, I wouldn't want to intrude."

Winter once again rolled her eyes, however for once it was not from annoyance or exhaustion from dealing with the man. This time it was more amused and she regarded him with a small smile, "I'm sure Weiss won't mind and neither do I."

"Well then," Nate raised his mug, "To good memories, better friends and a happy new year."

Winter clinked her glass against his, "Cheers."

 **And that's a wrap! Sorry to anyone hoping to see the actual party, I was originally planning to do it but I decided against it. I don't want to impose anything on Gamer, even if this isn't canon. Therefore I'll allow him to handle how Winter may or may not meet certain people in his story as I should XD. Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write and I hope you all enjoyed it. I like to picture Winter's apartment looking a lot like Anderson's Apartment from Mass Effect 3 'Citadel' DLC. Also I hope you guys like the little easter eggs i threw in(see if you can spot them all). The one with the prison are really obvious but I hid a more discrete one with Winter's apartment. I'll give you a hint, the code to her lock was 111415, it ties into the Easter egg ;). Anyway that's all I got and I hope I've done Gamer's story justice. Merry Christmas Guys and have a happy new year!**


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